Recently I’ve been seeing loads of top or terrible film lists and I generally disagree with most of them. I checked out IMDb’s and Rotten Tomatoes top films of all time, and although I don’t disagree, it isn’t the list I would make… so I made a list, or two.
I first made a ginormous list of about 1000 films. Basically, I listed all the films I could remember seeing. Then I whittled at it over the course of a week and got it down to 250. It was tough, so I cheated a little. I counted some films with parts as one film, and I did not include my top 12 in the big list.
For many years now I’ve kept a top 10 list of films in my head. I’ve allowed films to be knocked off the list as the years went by and kept the list current on a film by film basis. Since it even gave me room for a few additional films, so, it was pretty easy to make a top 12.
You may not agree with my choices, but I wasn’t making a top film of all time list, I was making a “my favorites” list. Please bear that in mind! Also, I’ve not seen every film ever made. Hard to believe I know! I am a little embarrassed to say I’ve not seen any of the Godfathers, Gone with the Wind, Casablanca or several other older classics. I’ve also not seen a lot of the newer films that have come out in the last few years. I used to watch a crapton of films. On average, about 10 a week or so, then in the last few years, I’ve slowed down to just a few a month. Why? Live in general. Maybe I’ll increase my film intake, and maybe I won’t. Either way, here is my current list and my mega list. They are both in alphabetical order.
My Top 12 Films
- Always – This has been my on my favorites list since the first time I saw it when it was released in theaters. It makes me laugh, cry and keeps me genuinely entertained.
- Amelie – I think it’s stupid that people will pass on a great film because they can’t be bothered with subtitles. This is such a wonderful film, funny, interesting and different.
- Donnie Darko – I knew from the first time that I saw it that it would make my list. It’s such an excellent story, and it’s so well done. Creepy and entertaining, what’s not to love?
- Hellraiser – I knew this film was going on the list before I even finished watching it! I love Doug Bradley, Pinhead, the puzzle box, the story and even it’s many sequels.
- Jacob’s Ladder – I was in just the right place, with just the right person and had just the right state of mind to really enjoy this film the first time I saw it. Yes, I was high with one of my best friends. But still, even sober I still love it.
- Pink Floyd The Wall – I have seen this soooo many times! At least a thousand, no seriously, not an outrageous estimate at all. My brother had it on Betamax back in the 80s and we watched the crap out of it!
- Room Service –
I love the Marx Brothers. I love their films, their sense of humor and how they come across on screen. This just happens to be my favorite of all of them. - The Fisher King – Another “love at first sight” film. had no expectations for it to even be good. I was pleasantly surprised at just how good it was, and how long it stayed with me.
- The Future – This is the newest film to join my list. An unexpectedly good film, that I thought about for weeks after I saw it.
- The Green Mile – One of two blockbusters on my list, this is also one of my favorite books. I was so glad that the film adaptation was so true to the book,
- The Matrix – I never seem to get tired of this film. I don’t love the sequels, but this one is definitely one that will stay on my list for a long time.
- Tin Men – This is the only film on my list to share a star with another film on the list. Richard Dreyfus just makes damn good films, doesn’t he? By the way, the other film is Always.
Here is an IMDb link to a list of My Top 12 Films
I’m not going to spend the time to over explain this list or why I’ve chosen the films on it. They might not be the best films ever made, or the most popular, but I like them, I just do…
My top 250 Films
- 9
- 40 Year Old Virgin
- A Clockwork Orange
- A Fish Called Wanda
- A Nightmare on Elm Street
- A Scanner Darkly
- A Simple Plan
- Across the Universe
- Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
- Alien
- Aliens
- All of Me
- Altered States
- American Beauty
- American Graffiti
- American Psycho
- An American Werewolf in London
- Angels with Dirty Faces
- Army of Darkness
- As Good as It Gets
- Audrey Rose
- Awakenings
- Back to the Future I, II & III
- Be Kind Rewind
- Beatle Juice
- Being John Malkovich
- Benny & June
- Bicentennial Man
- Big
- Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventures
- Blade Runner
- Blazing Saddles
- Blues Brothers
- Body Double
- Brainstorm
- Bram Stoker’s Dracula
- Breakfast at Tiffanys
- Broken Flowers
- Bruce Almighty
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- Caddyshack
- Carrie (1976)
- Cast Away
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
- Child’s Play
- Chocolat
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind
- Coal Miner’s Daughter
- Communion
- Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
- Coraline
- Corpse Bride
- Corrina, Corrina
- Creepshow
- Crocodile Dundee
- Crossroads (1986)
- Dances with Wolves
- Dangerous Liaisons
- Deadzone
- Desperately Seeking Susan
- Die Hard
- Diner
- Dirty Dancing
- Dirty Rotton Scoundrels
- Dumb & Dumber
- E.T.
- Eddie and the Cruisers
- Enemy Mine
- Evil Dead
- Evil Dead 2
- Explorers
- Falling Down
- Fame
- Fargo
- Fast Times at Ridgemont High
- Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
- Fletch
- Flight of the Navagator
- Footloose (1984)
- Four Weddings and a Funeral
- Freddy Got Fingered
- Frequency
- Friday the 13th
- Fright Night (1985)
- Full Metal Jacket
- Gates of Hell
- Ghost
- Ghost Dog
- Ghostbusters
- Good Morning, Vietnam
- Good-Bye Girl
- Goodfellas
- Grand Canyon
- Grease
- Gremlins
- Groundhog Day
- Halloween
- Happy Feet
- Happy Gilmore
- Harold and Maude
- Harper Valley P.T.A.
- Harry and the Hendersons
- He Loves Me… He Loves Me Not
- Heathers
- Heaven Can Wait
- Heavy Metal
- Hellraiser II: Hellbound
- Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth
- House
- Iceman
- Innerspace
- Jaws
- Joe Dirt
- Johnny Dangerously
- Kill Bill(s): Vol. 1 & 2
- Kramer vs. Kramer
- La Femme Nikita
- Late for Dinner
- Legend
- Let It Ride
- Life Is Beautiful
- Life of Brian
- Little Man Tate
- Little Voice
- Little Women (1933)
- Lost Boys
- Lost in Translation
- Man on the Moon
- Men in Black
- Men in Black 2
- Monty Python and the Holy Grail
- Mr. Holland’s Opus
- Mr Mom
- Mrs Doubtfire
- My Own Private Idaho
- Mystery Men
- Naked Gun
- National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
- National Lampoon’s Vacation
- Natural Born Killers
- Night of the Living Dead
- Nightbreed
- Nil By Mouth
- Nine 1/2 Weeks
- Nine to Five
- Norma Ray
- O Brother, Where Art Thou?
- Oh, God!
- One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
- Overboard
- Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure
- Peggy Sue Got Married
- Pet Sematary
- Planet of the Apes
- Pleasantville
- Poltergeist (1982)
- Predator
- Prelude to a Kiss
- Pretty Baby
- Pretty in Pink
- Pretty Woman
- Project X
- Pulp Fiction
- Rain Man
- Re-Animator
- Reservoir Dogs
- Robocop (1987)
- Rocky Horror Picture Show
- Romeo’s Bleeding
- Run Lola Run
- Say Anything…
- Seven
- Shaun of the Dead
- She-Devil
- Sid and Nancy
- Singin’ in the Rain
- Sister Act
- Sixteen Candles
- Sleeping with the Enemy
- Sliding Doors (1998)
- Sling Blade
- Some Like It Hot
- Sophie’s Choice
- Stand by Me
- Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
- Star Wars
- Stargate
- Starman
- Steel Magnolias
- Stir Crazy
- Stir of Echoes
- Stop Making Sense
- Stranger Than Fiction
- Sybil
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day
- The Big Chill
- The Blues Brothers
- The Bonfire of the Vanities
- The Breakfast Club
- The Butterfly Effect
- The Color Purple
- The Crying Game
- The Doors
- The Elephant Man (1980)
- The Exorcist III
- The Gate
- The Goonies
- The Green Mile
- The Grifters
- The Jacket
- The Jerk
- The Karate Kid (1984)
- The Last Starfighter
- The Last Unicorn
- The Lawnmower Man
- The Lion King
- The Little Prince (1974)
- The Little Princess (1939)
- The Lost Boys
- The Man Who Would Be King
- The Man with Two Brains
- The Mummy
- The Nightmare Before Christmas
- The Ninth Gate
- The Number 23
- The Philadelphia Experiment (1984)
- The Pink Panther (1964)
- The Princess Bride
- The Professionals (Leon)
- The Prophecy
- The Purple Rose of Cairo
- The Shawshank Redemption
- The Silence of the Lambs
- The Terminator
- The Thing (1982)
- The Three Amigos
- The Truman Show
- The Wizard of Oz (1939)
- Thelma and Louise
- Time After Time
- Tootsie
- Trainspotting
- Twelve Monkeys
- Wargames
- What’s Eating Gilbert Grape
- When Harry Met Sally
- Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
- Witches of Eastwick
- You, Me, and Everyone We Know
- Young Frankenstein